A look at how CBU is preparing for students' return

Riverside, Calif. (August 28, 2026) — As California Baptist University’s staff and faculty gear up for the fall semester, much work happens behind the scenes before students begin classes. We caught up with a few departments to hear how they’ve been preparing for the new school year.   

Christian Hassler, associate director of Residence Life, said Welcome Weekend is an “all hands-on deck affair.” 

“It’s a multi-department effort. Even people from Athletics, the Rec Center and Spiritual Life are helping students move in,” Hassler said.  

Prior to students returning to university dorms and apartments, summers consists of replacing old furniture, cleaning, inspecting rooms and training resident advisors (RA) and resident directors (RD).  

“We cover things like how to inspect a room when a student is moving in, how to respond to an emergency happening on campus, how to enforce a policy,” said Hassler.  

One of his favorite parts of training is called “behind closed doors,” where the leaders simulate an RA or RD stepping into a policy violation or intense emergency.  

“They tend to be nervous about it before it happens, but afterward they always say, ‘We’re so glad that we went through that,’” he said.  

Global Engagement, which includes International Student and Scholar Services, the Intensive English Program and Education Abroad, prepares for the school year by looking back at the previous year.  

“We ask, ‘What went well?’ ‘What didn’t?’ ‘What can we grow from?’ And we build on that in the summer,” said Courtney Watson, senior director for International Student and Scholar Services.  

New international students arrive on campus almost a week before their first class. One of the reasons for this is to give them time to adjust to the different time zone. 

“We also recognize that if you’re coming from a different culture, being thrown into Welcome Weekend can be really overwhelming,” Watson said. 

The Global Engagement team aims to answer the question, “What do our international students need to be successful before they start classes?” Therefore, the office holds its own events. These are smaller and more intimate, preparing students to go into the university-wide Welcome Weekend and the first day of classes, said Watson.  

Community Life also is eager to welcome students back on campus.  

“It’s like seeing the heartbeat of our campus come back,” said Jamie Eriksen, director of campus activities.  

For Gavin Andrew, director of new student programs, part of summer consists of hosting CBU Connect’s. These events are hosted for new students to meet each other and get familiar with campus. “This ideally helps students feel more comfortable so that they have a friend they’re excited to see come Welcome Weekend,” Andrew said. 

A lot of planning takes place for the department during the summer. Tyler Cox, senior director of Campus Recreation, spends time purchasing things to add to the Recreation Center and planning events that will take place inside it.  

Community Life also works will student interns during the summer to plan events. “We want them to feel ownership over what is being produced in the fall,” said Ericksen.  Some exciting events taking place this semester include Clash-N-Roll, commuter brunch, Jazz Under the Stars and more.  

“The hope is that students look forward to coming back from summer,” said Cox. “Everything revolves around how we can build community on campus.”